Logistics workers in rail, trucking, and warehouses labor hard to bring us our packages year-round. But their employers subject them to ruthless harassment, surveillance, and union busting. Their organizing efforts need our solidarity this Christmas.
by Sam Morris, Jacobin
What started as a humble mom-and-pop shop in a far corner of the North Pole is today unrecognizable. Mr and Mrs Claus have built an international logistics machine that operates 24-7 and that can get presents from one side of the globe to the other overnight.
But Santa’s elves say they haven’t shared in Santa’s success. “There are more gifts to make than ever before, but we’re still struggling to get by. And it’s only getting more expensive to live in the North Pole!”
Workers’ grievances extend beyond wages. One of Santa’s strategies for improving productivity is increased surveillance. Many elves complain that this has made their lives miserable: “He knows when we’ve been sleeping. He knows when we’re awake. He even has a metric for how much time we’ve spent ‘off-task’ and uses this number to discipline us,” said one workshop elf.
Equally troubling testimonies come from his reindeer, for whom Santa has installed sleigh-facing cameras. “This used to be a job where we could talk freely with each other and enjoy our reindeer games while we worked, but now everything we say or do could get us in trouble. We feel like robots.”
Recent Posts
Visits Of Justice: Stella Assange’s Plea To Australia
Take Action Now “Julian is lying in his cell, probably awake and struggling to fall asleep. It’s where he spends twenty-two hours a day, every…
No Parade For Me: On Getting Memorial Day Wrong
Take Action Now The days has too often and for too many become an expression of faux patriotism that further exploits the sacrifices of the slain and…
What Can I Do To Prevent Nuclear War? You Can Shout ‘No’ Now!
Take Action Now We’ve done 31 War Abolition Walks in Madison since April 2022 to call for an end to the war in Ukraine, and all war. By Janet…
Henry Kissinger, War Criminal, Is Somehow Still Alive
Take Action Now Much of the world views Kissinger as a war criminal – yet in the US, surrounded by powerful friends, he is feted as a…